FAQ on JUMPING IN AND POSTING
How do I read and respond to Forum threads?
At the Kitchen Forum home page http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/kitchbath/, click on a thread title to pull up the original post (OP) and the responses. To join in and add a response, type into the box at the bottom of the page right below your name. (You must be logged in to see this box and to post.) To see your post and proofread it, click on ‘preview’. If you need to make a correction, scroll down to the box for making corrections and edit. When the preview looks good to go, click on “submit”. You should see a notice that your response has been posted.
Where did my response go?
If you did click on “submit”, your response should join the thread, and pop that thread up to the top of current threads, with yours as the most recent follow-up. Try refreshing the page. Sometimes a thread will be in two places momentarily, both where you found it and at the lead. Sometimes posts take a moment to appear. Sometimes things disappear.
How do I start a new thread?
At the bottom of the home page is a box below your name for starting a new thread: “Post a message to the Forum”. (You need to be logged in to see your name and to post). Just type in your issue or question, and let people know how they might help you out. Then write your thread title. It helps to be very clear with the title. “Granite question” could mean most anything, whereas “Granite seam question” is more specific, and “How noticeable should a granite seam be?” is even more specific, and “Are these granite seams unacceptable? (picture)” is even clearer. And you want to be clear because there are more threads than can be read by the average Forum user. There are two areas you can post. The first is the Discussion forum. This is where you post your kitchen question. The second is Conversation where we go to chat the third is gallery. Be sure you’re in the correct section before posting; a discussion question in the Gallery may get ignored.
How can I practice before actually posting?
There’s a special section in the GardenWeb forums to test your post: the test forum . You can try anything there and see for yourself whether it works the way you want.
I lost my thread. Where is it?
Your thread is still there, but may have scrolled down off page one to page 2 or 3 or beyond. The first page only shows activity in the last couple hours. One way to locate your thread is to do a ‘search’ on your name, and that will pull up any threads you have started or posted on. You can get your thread back to page one by posting on it yourself, commonly called “bumping”. Perfectly fine if you still need responses, and better than starting a second new thread (leads to confusion and a crowded Forum)
Hey, how come I didn’t get lots of answers like some other threads?
Hard to say. Some threads that are touching or funny or controversial will “get legs” because they strike a chord. Sometimes a project will generate a lot of give and take and brainstorming. Some questions get ignored because they’ve been answered over and over (but your search should have told you that). Some get ignored because they may be too specific and no one has the answer. Maybe you just posted at a busy time and it slipped off the first pages too quickly. Sometimes things happen for no reason. (Even the venerable Bill Vincent, aka the ever-helpful Forum tile guy, recently had HIS question ignored.) Don’t view it as a slight. Try posting to your own thread and asking again for more input.
Why can’t I find a thread from a while ago?
The storage capacity of the Forum only goes back about two months. Sometimes less. If the thread you are looking for “fell off” the 67th page, it’s gone.
How can I save threads I might need later?
You can keep any post as a “clipping” and stash it in your Forum file. Just click on “clip this post” under the ‘Clippings’ logo at the top right of each post. If you want to save a whole thread, you may need to resort to saving the thread as a document on your computer (EDIT: ‘select all’, then FILE: ‘save as…’ )